These gluten free pita breads are quick and easy to whip together. In fact, it made me wonder why I've never bothered making them before, particularly when I make homemade naan bread all the time. I've also made a spiced falafel-style hamburger that's perfect in place of gluten-free falafel inside the pita. I'll be posting it shortly and will add the link here. I added a note below, but if you're worried about whether or not your pitas will puff up properly, you can let them rise 15-20 minutes and then bake as directed. They'll be cooked through and puffed enough that you can easily slice and use them as pitas. Enjoy!
Place a cookie sheet in the oven. Preheat oven to 475 F. You want your cookie sheet to remain in the oven and stay nice and hot for baking your pita breads.
In a mixer, combine: (It's important to mix the flours first in gluten-free baking to avoid lumps)
(You can use 2 1/2 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix in place of the flours and xanthan gum listed here - but I like the flavor of this particular blend in the pitas)
1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
2 tsp rapid-rise/instant yeast
Add, and beat 4-5 minutes:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter, softened (not melted)
1 1/2 cup milk, warmed
Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter. Add 2-4 large spoonfuls of dough (with your spatula). Place a piece of plastic wrap over your dough. Flatten with your hands. Then use a rolling pin to make a little more even, between 1/4" - 1/2" thick. Aim for a bit thicker than you'd be rolling for something like pie dough or pizza crust. Remove plastic wrap.
Quickly, place your piece of parchment with the flattened dough on the hot pan in your 475 F oven. Bake 4-5 minutes. Flip the pitas IN the OVEN with tongs or spatula, quickly close the oven door and cook another 3-4 minutes. ***Every oven is a little different - they may need a little less or little more time. Too little baking time, and you'll end up with them feeling too mushy in the center of the pita, too much and they'll be a little crispy on the outsides. I prefer to err on the side of crispy. The main thing is you want your oven and pan piping hot and staying that way as much as possible. Remove pitas from oven and place on a cooling rack.***
Roll out your next pitas on fresh parchment paper, the same as before, and bake. Continue until you've used all your dough.
***If you're worried about whether or not your pitas will puff up during baking, just let the rolled out pita dough rise 15 - 20 minutes and then bake them, flipping as instructed earlier. They will not "puff up" during baking, but can be easily sliced in half and then sliced open like a pita. Still tastes great and takes away a bit of the stress of whether or not they puff up enough.***
I like to slice the pitas in half and use a knife to help slice apart any section of the pita that isn't fully opened. (There's always some little part that doesn't puff up in every pita I make) Fill your pitas with GF falafel, or falafel-spiced hamburgers and a cucumber yogurt sauce. You can add tomatoes, lettuce, extra cucumbers. You can serve these alongside other meals, too, or use for sandwiches or as an alternative to hamburger buns! Yum!
Homemade pitas with GF falafel and tzaziki sauce filling. Yum!
Look at those nice pitas. Yum!
Gluten Free Pita Bread!
Makes 6-10 pitas, depending on the size you make themPlace a cookie sheet in the oven. Preheat oven to 475 F. You want your cookie sheet to remain in the oven and stay nice and hot for baking your pita breads.
In a mixer, combine: (It's important to mix the flours first in gluten-free baking to avoid lumps)
(You can use 2 1/2 cups Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour Mix in place of the flours and xanthan gum listed here - but I like the flavor of this particular blend in the pitas)
1 1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
2 tsp rapid-rise/instant yeast
Add, and beat 4-5 minutes:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp butter, softened (not melted)
1 1/2 cup milk, warmed
Place a piece of parchment paper on the counter. Add 2-4 large spoonfuls of dough (with your spatula). Place a piece of plastic wrap over your dough. Flatten with your hands. Then use a rolling pin to make a little more even, between 1/4" - 1/2" thick. Aim for a bit thicker than you'd be rolling for something like pie dough or pizza crust. Remove plastic wrap.
Make sure to use plastic wrap to flatten first with your hand, and then a quick roll with the rolling pin. Remove the plastic wrap and pop right into the oven!
Quickly, place your piece of parchment with the flattened dough on the hot pan in your 475 F oven. Bake 4-5 minutes. Flip the pitas IN the OVEN with tongs or spatula, quickly close the oven door and cook another 3-4 minutes. ***Every oven is a little different - they may need a little less or little more time. Too little baking time, and you'll end up with them feeling too mushy in the center of the pita, too much and they'll be a little crispy on the outsides. I prefer to err on the side of crispy. The main thing is you want your oven and pan piping hot and staying that way as much as possible. Remove pitas from oven and place on a cooling rack.***
Fresh from the oven. You can see that sometimes they pull fully, sometimes bits and pieces of them puff up. No problem! Just slice apart and you're good to go!
Roll out your next pitas on fresh parchment paper, the same as before, and bake. Continue until you've used all your dough.
I've made them smaller, larger, nicely shaped, slapped together quickly. They're quite versatile!
***If you're worried about whether or not your pitas will puff up during baking, just let the rolled out pita dough rise 15 - 20 minutes and then bake them, flipping as instructed earlier. They will not "puff up" during baking, but can be easily sliced in half and then sliced open like a pita. Still tastes great and takes away a bit of the stress of whether or not they puff up enough.***
I like to slice the pitas in half and use a knife to help slice apart any section of the pita that isn't fully opened. (There's always some little part that doesn't puff up in every pita I make) Fill your pitas with GF falafel, or falafel-spiced hamburgers and a cucumber yogurt sauce. You can add tomatoes, lettuce, extra cucumbers. You can serve these alongside other meals, too, or use for sandwiches or as an alternative to hamburger buns! Yum!
A bit of an overcooked pita here, but tasted great with spiced falafel-style burgers.
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